In a ceremony on December 12, 2022, the Emergency Services Public Information Officers of Colorado (ESPIOC) recognized the Erie Police Department’s Public Information Officer (PIO), Amber Luttrell, with ‘PIO of the Year 2022’ for both small and large agencies. Luttrell was also awarded ‘Best use of Digital Media’. 

Luttrell was recognized for her community engagement and endeavors to bridge the police department with the community. In 2022, she hosted Community Safety Tool webinars, Coffee with a Cop events, connected the Diversity Equity and Inclusion Advisory Board with EPD’s LGBTQ+ program, invited the National Council of State Legislators to a night of presentations and celebrated the department surpassing the 30x30 Initiative. In addition, after a robust opt-in campaign, PIO Luttrell coordinated a town-wide test of emergency alerts, the first of its kind by Boulder County Communications. In 30 days, she gained 7,515 opt-ins. 

For her use of Digital Media, Luttrell increased social media followers by 225 percent in her first year and was nominated for revolutionizing the department’s social media. The ESPIOC nominee said, “She responds quickly as the agency when there are breaking incidents and uses humor for the more light-hearted posts. It’s clear she’s an expert at this type of communication, and she is showing her community that EPD gets the importance of the timely sharing of public information.” 

Luttrell served previously as the Marketing and Communications Manager for the Town of Erie. In January 2022, she became the first police PIO. Previously, she served in the Public Affairs Unit of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.  

The Emergency Services Public Information Officers of Colorado was created in 1986 to enhance the relations between the news media and public safety agencies and provide professional support to public information officers in the emergency services field. For more, visit https://www.espioc.org/.